Skill up for success

Sara Yirrell talks up the importance of training in the wake of a HDS partner survey

Storage vendor Hitachi Data Systems revealed the results of a recent channel partner survey this week which found that 99 per cent partners questioned felt training was the more important part of a vendor programme.

This ranked above the usual suspects such as rebates and mdf, and showed that despite the difficult economic conditions, the channel is staying one step ahead and ensuring its staff are skilled up and ready for when the market picks up again.

Without a fully trained workforce, a business cannot function to the best of its ability.

I have heard the saying about investing in a downturn to be ready for the upturn, time and time again. And it makes sense.

CRN also recognises the importance of training and is set to launch the next wave of training courses through the CRN Reseller Business Academy in October.

These courses are not technical, instead the thinking behind them is to arm delegates with key business skills that can then be tailored to suit any business model.

The first course: Sales Management for Resellers is on 7 October, with Sales Fundamentals for Resellers following close behind on 21 October. November sees three courses launched on marketing fundamentals, negotiating skills and financial management.

To find out more about the courses, please visit: www.resellerbusinessacademy.co.uk.

Sara Yirrell is editor of CRN - contact here at [email protected]